Phantom of Venice: Nancy, dancing in a cat suit.I thought AAer's might like to know that ACG has recently published my review of the latest Nancy Drew installment. This one was particularly good, and Her Interactive has certainly redeemed themselves after the so-so 17th game. Phantom has a number of nice innovations and fun minigames, such as a DDR-inspired dancing sequence and singing gondoliers. All in all, it's a great game and well worth checking out if you're into adventure games. Like most other ND games, you'll actual learn something, too--this time a lot about Venetian culture and the Italian language.

Philip has just posted our interview with Benoit Sokal, designer of the highly acclaimed Syberia games and a half dozen more recent titles. It's well worth reading for anyone interested in GAG development or the state of the genre.

Howard Sherman: Malinche Entertainment's Big KahunaAs many of you are well aware, I've always been a big fan of Infocom and interactive fiction. Although text adventures aren't nearly as ubiquitous as they were back in Infocom's heyday, they are still being developed and published today--and, thanks to the chutzpah of one man, Howard Sherman, they are becoming commercially viable once again. Sherman's company, Malinche Entertainment, is, to quote Sherman, "Infocom 2.0." I think you're going to really enjoy reading the following interview, in which Sherman talks about his ideas and goals to promote and support the interactive fiction community. Howard is a great guy, and I really appreciate what he's doing for an often underrated (and unappreciated!) genre. Big thanks to Howard and Malinche Entertainment for taking time out to answer my questions!

Gamasutra has now published my article on the History of Zork! Go check it out; it's loaded with plenty of facts, screenshots, and quotations from the authors. I had earlier promised to offer the interviews I conducted with the implementors and other folks here on Armchair. You'll find them below, organized more or less in a "round table" progression. Enjoy!

As some of you may know, I've been a bit busy of late drafting a retrospective piece about Zork for GamaSutra. Although I initially had problems getting in touch with the famous "imps" (Zork programmers, short for "implementors"), I finally managed to hit the jackpot. I've got interview material with Marc Blank, Steve Meretzky, Nick Montfort, and hopefully Dave Lebling (waiting for response).